s that
glow with the fire of genius.

Mention must also be made of the famous Kreutzer Sonata, opus 47, for
piano and violin, which was completed prior to the Third Symphony. This
great work was originally intended for an English violinist resident at
Vienna by the name of Bridgetower, and was first performed at a morning
concert at the Augarten in May of 1803. Beethoven was at the piano and
Bridgetower played the violin part. Beethoven had completed a portion of
the work the previous year, but the violin part had to be played almost
before the ink was dry, the piano accompaniment being made up by
Beethoven as he went along. Notwithstanding this entire want of
preparation, the value of the work was so apparent that it produced an
encore.

Beethoven changed his mind about the dedication, and a year or two later
this distinction was conferred on a friend, Rudolph Kreutzer, violinist
and composer, who had come to Vienna in 1798 with Bernadotte, and as a
matter of course, became acquainted with Beethoven. Kreutzer had been a
protege of Marie Antoinette; afterward he was taken up by Napoleon, and
still later by Louis XVIII, each of whom he served in his musical
capacity. The Kreutzer Sonata has had a wide notoriety given it through
Tolstoy's work of that name.

CHAPTER V

FIDELIO

In the mind as in a field, some things may be sown and carefully
brought up, yet that which springs naturally is most pleasing.
--TACITUS.

The year 1805 saw Beethoven hard at work in a field new to
him,--operatic composition. It had probably been in his mind for some
years to write an opera. In those days almost every composer wrote
operas, and to have written a successful one carried with it, not only a
certain prestige, but substantial rewards in a financial sense. Outside
of the church but little opportunity was afforded the general public to
gratify its love for music other than in opera. Orchestral concerts were
comparatively rare,--song recitals unknown. The development of the
orchestra was just beginning, through the genius of Beethoven, and the
Viennese were to a great extent, still unconscious of its importance, as
a means of musical expression. The many symphonies, quartets, and other
forms of chamber-music of Haydn, Mozart and contemporaneous composers,
were for the most part written for private performance at musical
functions in the houses of the n